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Lawsons are the largest independent timber, building & fencing merchants in London and the South East of England. Established in 1921 Lawsons now have a number of branches offering the complete range of building materials.

How to Choose the Right Paving for Your Home

Choosing the right paving for your home can be difficult – whether you’re just creating a small garden path or completely revamping your driveway, the decision will make a huge difference to the look and feel of your home. You need to choose something that compliments the existing features and colours, while fitting in with your budget and your own sense of style.

Lawson stocks a huge variety of Marshalls paving options, so you can choose from natural stone, concrete slabs, and more to find the perfect look and texture for your family.

Wear and Performance

The first consideration is how much weight and foot traffic your paving will need to withstand – a driveway needs to take the weight and pressure of at least one car on a daily basis, whereas a garden path just needs to take the weight of a person or people walking on it, perhaps not even every day. 50mm is the minimum thickness we recommend for driveways, but if you drive an SUV or more than one car, it’s best to go with the thickest option. Anything less will crack, so this is extremely important for the safety and longevity of your drive. Naturally, garden features and paths do not need paving this thick.

Your Style and Surroundings

Performance is extremely important, but so is the look and feel of your paving. You may have garden paving already that you would like to match, or you may want to match the hue of your paving to your house. Natural stone can look both modern and rustic, depending on the use, surroundings, and texture – smoother paving is generally recommended for lovers of a modern style, while more texture tends to create a rustic aesthetic.

Colour is almost always the main thing that our customers look at – if you have a large area to cover, we recommend mixing multiple bags rather than opening one lot of paving, laying that, and continuing with the rest. As stone has natural variations, this will allow you to have a mixed look that is intentional, rather than 3-4 different hued areas on the same patio.